Near Villers Bretonneux in France, around 6:40 PM on this day in 1918, two Sopwith Camels were shot out of the sky three minutes apart. They were brought down by a red Fokker Dr.I triplane flown by Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, his 79th and 80th aerial victories. Less than 24 hours later, he would be dead.

Although not directly relevant to the First World War the so-called 'Tampico Incident' did play its part in subsequently antagonising U.S.-German relations in early 1917.

In short the Mexican regime under General Huerta harassed U.S. sailors stationed off Mexican waters in early 1914. The nature of the discourtesy - the arrested sailors were paraded through the streets of Tampico - was such that Admiral Henry Mayo, commander of U.S. naval forces in the region, declined an initial Mexican apology for a verbal apology.

Instead Mayo demanded that the person or persons responsible for the incident be punished and that the U.S. flag be given a 21-gun salute on shore. The Mexicans responded with a written apology and General Huerta similarly expressed his regret - but crucially the U.S. demand for a flag salute on Mexican soil was denied.

Thus on 20 April 1914 President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress and requested authorisation to use military force to produce the required form of Mexican contrition. Wilson was concerned that Tampico merely comprised the latest in a series of such incidents. Two days later Congress granted Wilson the authority he sought.

It was this sense of Mexican grievance that the Germans preyed upon when Arthur Zimmermann sent the notorious Zimmermann Telegram in January 1917 in which Germany promised Mexico territorial gains from the U.S. were the former to launch a distracting war against America. Britain's interception of the Zimmermann Telegram, and its consequent passing to the U.S. government, factored heavily in bringing about a U.S. declaration of war against Germany three months later in April 1917.

Reproduced below is President Wilson's address to Congress on 20 April 1914.

President Wilson's Address to Congress, 20 April 1914

Gentlemen of the Congress:

It is my duty to call to your attention to a situation which has arisen in our dealings with the General Victoriano Huerta at Mexico City which calls for action , and to ask your advice and cooperation in acting upon it.

On the 9th of April a paymaster of the U.S.S. Dolphin landed at the Iturbide Bridge landing at Tampico with a whaleboat and boats' crew to take off certain supplies needed by his ship , and while engaged in loading the boat was arrested by an officer and squad of men of the army of General Huerta.... Admiral Mayo regarded the arrest as so serious an affront that he was not satisfied with the flag of the United States be saluted with special ceremony by the military commander of the port.

The incident can not be regarded as a trivial one, especially as two of the men arrested were taken from the boat itself - that is to say, from the territory of the United States - but had it stood by itself it might have been attributed to the ignorance or arrogance of a single officer. Unfortunately, it was not an isolated case.

A series of incidents have recently occurred which can not but create the impression that the representatives of General Huerta were willing to go out of their way to show disregard for the dignity and rights of this Government and felt perfectly safe in doing what they pleased, making free to show in many ways their irritation and contempt...

The manifest danger of such a situation was that such offences might grow from bad to worse until something happened of so gross and intolerable a sort as to lead directly and inevitably to armed conflict. It was necessary that the apologies of General Huerta and his representatives should go much further, that they should be such as to attract the attention of the whole population to their significance, and such as to impress upon General Huerta himself the necessity of seeing to it that no further occasion for explanations and professed regrets should arise.

I, therefore, felt it my duty to sustain Admiral Mayo in the whole of his demand and to insist that the flag of the United States should be saluted in such a way as to indicate a new spirit and attitude on the part of the Huertistas.

Such a salute, General Huerta has refused and I have come to ask your approval and support in the course I now propose to pursue. This Government can, I earnestly hope, in no circumstances be forced into war with the people of Mexico. Mexico is torn by civil strife. If we are to accept the tests of its own constitution, it has no government. General Huerta has set his power up in the City of Mexico, such as it is, without right and by methods for which there can be no justification.

Only part of the country is under his control. If armed conflict should unhappily come as a result of his attitude of personal resentment toward this Government, we should be fighting only General Huerta and those who adhere to him and give him their support, and our object would be only to restore to the people of the distracted Republic the opportunity to set up again their own laws and their own government.

But I earnestly hope that war is not now in question. I believe I speak for the American people when I say that we do not desire to control in any degree the affairs of our sister Republic. Our feeling for the people of Mexico is one of deep and genuine friendship, and every thing that we have so far done or refrained from doing has proceeded from our desire to help them, not to hinder or embarrass them.

We would not wish even to exercise the good offices of friendship without their welcome and consent. The people of Mexico are entitled to settle their own domestic affairs in their own way, and we sincerely desire to respect their right. The present situation need have none of the grave implications of interference if we deal with it promptly, firmly, and wisely.

No doubt I could do what is necessary the circumstances to enforce respect for our Government without recourse to the Congress, and yet not exceed my constitution powers as President; but I do not wish to a in a manner possibly of so grave consequence except in close conference and cooperation with both the Senate and House.

I, therefore l come to ask your approval that I should use the armed forces of the United States in such ways and to such an extent as may be necessary to obtain from General Huerta and adherents the fullest recognition of the rights and dignity of the United States, even admit the distressing conditions now unhappily obtaining in Mexico.

There can in what we do be no thought of aggression or of selfish aggrandizement. We seek to maintain the dignity and authority of the United States only because we wish always to keep our great influence unimpaired for the uses of liberty, both in United States and wherever else it may employed for the benefit of mankind.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/tampicoincident.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

"Shelling was now on the increase everywhere and all ranks had noticed it. On Monday 19th April the roads and bridges to north and east of Ypres had begun to receive attention. Now on Tuesday Ypres itself was being pounded. Enormous 1 ton shells from the German 42 cm howitzer had begun crashing into the old town. This 'Big Bertha' fired at the rate of ten rounds per hour and caused horrendous damage. A shell landing in the open blew a crater 15 feet deep and 40 feet wide."

The photograph depicts some British soldiers standing on the lip of a deep crater - named Jack Johnson crater - in Ypres. This crater was made by a large calibre German shell a couple of weeks prior to the heavier bombardment beginning on 18 April.

As the shelling continued to increase a trickle of civilian refugees began to leave the city, heading west for the town of Poperinghe.

War Diary of the Ypres Town Major

The Town Major, Lieutenant-Colonel Hankey, wrote the War Diary for that day as follows:

"20th: Captain H A Pearson (Canadian YMCA) came and arranged for a house in the town to be appropriated for his use, for a branch of the YMCA for all troops in the town. A house was allotted ... near the POPERINGE gate.

A meeting was held of the Town Sanitary Committee.

An intermittant bombardment of the town continued all day and all night till 7.30am the following morning. Civilian casualties - 9 killed, 7 wounded." (1)

During the next 24 hours most buildings in the centre of the town, including the famous medieval Cloth Hall and St. Martin's cathedral, would be systematically destroyed.

Depth charges
(...) Anti-submarine vessels initially carried only two depth charges, to be released from a chute at the stern of the ship. The first success was the sinking of U-68 off Kerry, Ireland, on 22 March 1916 by the Q-ship Farnborough. Germany became aware of the depth charge following unsuccessful attacks on U-67 on 15 April 1916, and U-69 on 20 April. UC-19 and UB-29 were the only other submarines sunk by depth charges during 1916.

Lees het hele artikel op http://wapedia.mobi/en/U-boat_Campaign_(World_War_I)?t=3._________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

April 20, 1916 - American pilots form Escadrille Americaine to fight in France. The name is changed to Lafayette Escadrille in November after German protest (they did not want Americans to come into the war on the side of France).

http://www.hardenberg.nl/smartsite.shtml?id=69615_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

We are all worn out by this frightful war, which has cost millions of lives, crippled millions of people and caused untold misery, ruin, and starvation.

And more and more people are beginning to ask themselves: What started this war, what is it being waged for?

Every day it is becoming clearer to us, the workers and peasants, who bear the brunt of the war, that it was started and is being waged by the capitalists of all countries for the sake of the capitalists’ interests, for the sake of world supremacy, for the sake of markets for the manufacturers, factory owners and bankers, for the sake of plundering the weak nationalities. They are carving up colonies and seizing territories in the Balkans and in Turkey—and for this the European peoples must be ruined, for this we must die, for this we must witness the ruin, starvation and death of our families.

The capitalist class in all countries is deriving colossal, staggering, scandalously high profits from contracts and war supplies, from concessions in annexed countries, and from the rising price of goods. The capitalist class has imposed contribution on all the nations for decades ahead in the shape of high interest on the billions lent in war loans. And we, the workers and peasants, must die, suffer ruin, and starve, must patiently bear all this and strengthen our oppressors, the capitalists, by having the workers of the different countries exterminate each other and feel hatred for each other.

Are we going to continue submissively to bear our yoke, to put up with the war between the capitalist classes?Are we going to let this war drag on by taking the side of our own national governments, our own national bourgeoisies, our own national capitalists, and thereby destroying the international unity of the workers of all countries, of the whole world?

No, brother soldiers, it is time we opened our eyes, it is time we took our fate into our own hands. In all countries popular wrath against the capitalist class, which has drawn the people into the war, is growing, spreading, and gaining strength. Not only in Germany, but even in Britain, which before the war had the reputation of being one of the freest countries, hundreds and hundreds of true friends and representatives of the working class are languishing in prison for having spoken the honest truth against the war and against the capitalists. The [February] revolution in Russia is only the first step of the first revolution; it should be followed and will be followed by others.

The new government in Russia—which has overthrown Nicholas II, who was as bad a crowned brigand as Wilhelm II—is a government of the capitalists. It is waging just as predatory and imperialist a war as the capitalists of Germany, Britain, and other countries. It has endorsed the predatory secret treaties concluded by Nicholas II with the capitalists of Britain, France, and other countries; it is not publishing these treaties for the world to know, just as the German Government is not publishing its secret and equally predatory treaties with Austria, Bulgaria, and so on.

On April 20 the Russian Provisional Government published a Note re-endorsing the old predatory treaties concluded by the tsar and declaring its readiness to fight the war to a victorious finish, thereby arousing the indignation even of those who have hitherto trusted and supported it.

But, in addition to the capitalist government, the Russian revolution has given rise to spontaneous revolutionary organisations representing the vast majority of the workers and peasants, namely, the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in Petrograd and in the majority of Russia’s cities. Most of the soldiers and some of the workers in Russia—like very many workers and soldiers in Germany—still preserve an unreasoning trust in the government of the capitalists and in their empty and lying talk of a peace without annexations, a war of defence, and so on.

But, unlike the capitalists, the workers and poor peasants have no interest in annexations or in protecting the profits of the capitalists. And, therefore, every day, every step taken by the capitalist government, both in Russia and in Germany, will expose the deceit of the capitalists, will expose the fact that as long as capitalist rule lasts there can be no really democratic, non-coercive peace based on a real renunciation of all annexations, i.e., on the liberation of all colonies without exception, of all oppressed, forcibly annexed or underprivileged nationalities without exception, and the war will in all likelihood become still more acute and protracted.

Only if state power in both the, at present, hostile countries, for example, in both Russia and Germany, passes wholly and exclusively into the hands of the revolutionary Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, which are really capable of rending the whole mesh of capitalist relations and interests, will the workers of both the belligerent countries acquire confidence in each other and be able to put a speedy end to the war on the basis of a really democratic peace that will really liberate all the nations and nationalitiea of the world.

Brothers, soldiers!

Let us do everything we can to hasten this, to achieve this aim. Let us not fear sacrifices—any sacrifice for the workers’ revolution will be less painful than the sacrifices of war. Every victorious step of the revolution will save hundreds of thousands and millions of people from death, ruin, and starvation.

Peace to the hovels, war on the palaces! Peace to the workers of all countries! Long live the fraternal unity of the revolutionary workers of all countries! Long live socialism!

Central Committee of the R.S.D.L P.
Petrograd Committee of the R.S.D.L.P.
Editorial Board of Pravda

“Marxists Internet Archive”, http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/20e.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

(...) Keynes ignored Orlando but, even though Italy’s interests were less universal than those of America, Britain and France, it had a powerful impact on the settlement, sometimes with world-wide consequences. In her diary for 20 April 1919, Frances Stevenson, Lloyd George’s secretary, mistress and eventual second wife, recorded a moment of high emotion. Looking across from her window she could see into Wilson’s house. ‘Suddenly Orlando appeared at the window … and put his head in his hands … I saw him take out his handkerchief and wipe his eyes and cheeks … Orlando was overcome and began to sob.’ He had failed to persuade his fellow peacemakers, and in particular Wilson, of the Italian case to annex the Adriatic port of Fiume (Rijeka). He withdrew the Italian delegation and returned to Rome.

http://www.iisg.nl/troelstra/chronologie.php_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Lees alles op http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympische_Zomerspelen_1920_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Mr. HANCOCK asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give or obtain any information concerning Private J. T. Holmes Lees, No. 37,205, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, who was reported as missing on 18th September, 1918?

Mr. CHURCHILL I regret that no further information has been received regarding this soldier. His death has now been accepted, and the relatives are being informed.

http://members.chello.nl/a.horlings/1918-1922.html_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

The Ludlow Massacre resulted in the violent deaths of 19 people during an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. The deaths occurred after a day-long fight between strikers and the Guard. Two women and eleven children were asphyxiated and burned to death. Three union leaders and two strikers were killed by gunfire, along with one child, one passer-by, and one National Guardsman. In response, the miners armed themselves and attacked dozens of mines, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard.

This was the deadliest incident in the 14-month 1913-1914 southern Colorado Coal Strike, itself the deadliest strike in the history of the United States. The strike was organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against coal mining companies in Colorado. The three largest companies involved were the Rockefeller family-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company (CF&I), the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company (RMF), and the Victor-American Fuel Company (VAF). Ludlow, located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Trinidad, Colorado, is now a ghost town. The massacre site is owned by the UMWA, which erected a granite monument in memory of the miners and their families who died that day.

The Ludlow Tent Colony Site was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009, and dedicated on June 28, 2009. Modern archeological investigation largely supports the strikers' reports of the event.

The Ludlow Massacre was a watershed moment in American labor relations. Historian Howard Zinn has described the Ludlow Massacre as "the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history". Congress responded to public outcry by directing the House Committee on Mines and Mining to investigate the incident. Its report, published in 1915, was influential in promoting child labor laws and an eight-hour work day.

Lees verder op http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/document/5631/5540_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

The boat docked in Boulogne at 9.40pm and the Bn marched to St Martins Rest Camp.

“The battalion behaved splendidly, rather to the astonishment of the officers. The embarkation officer and disembarkation gave us some encouragement. It took the battalion exactly thirteen minutes to leave the boat, form up and march off. As the record disembarkation for a battalion is twelve minutes, we did pretty well. Had to march about three miles after disembarking, up a very long hill; pretty well cooked when we got into camp, as everybody was carrying blanket and waterproof sheet, in addition to full marching order. Slept in bivouac tents, very cold and wet”. (4th Bn Officer, Hexham Courant - 1 May 15).

http://www.4thbnnf.com/20_150420_150422_stjulien.html#20th_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

(...) When the First World War broke out, Casement hoped to obtain German help in winning Irish independence and made his way to Berlin to enlist Irish prisoners of war for service in an Irish rising. In April 1916, the Germans despatched a ship, the Aud, with a cargo of arms to be landed in Kerry for a rising planned for Easter week. Casement followed in a submarine. The Aud was captured and blown up by its crew. Casement was arrested on 20 April 1916 and taken to England, to the Tower of London, to stand trial. He was subsequently found guilty of treason, stripped of his knighthood, and sentenced to be hanged. The Easter Rising in Dublin went ahead on 23 April, and seven days of street fighting ensued in which many were killed. (...)

(...) On 20 January 1916, Joffre told Haig that by the end of April he would have five offensives prepared. Three would be in the south-east, one in the Champagne and one on the Oise-Somme front as discussed. But which one would be selected would depend on the military situation. Meanwhile it would be important for the enemy to be worn down. He requested that Haig attack north of the Somme on a large scale - a minimum 7 mile front - about 20 April 1916. This had no strategic intent but was simply to cause damage to the enemy. It would therefore not be part of a great offensive in which a large force of 15-18 British Divisions could be deployed, but only as part of a war of attrition - a "bataille d'usure" - to soften up the enemy beforehand. Haig said he could not agree: his forces would not be ready, its would be politically unacceptable at home and would be regarded by the enemy as defeat. (...)

http://www.1914-1918.net/bat15A.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Chapman was a private in April 1916 when he visited Ireland while on convalescent leave. He had been on Gallipoli since the first day of the landing, 25 April 1915, until illness caused his evacuation in August 1915 to Malta and from there to England. On the night of Thursday, 20 April 1916, Chapman and an unnamed companion caught the train and ferry to Dublin, checking in the next morning at the Waverley Hotel in Sackville Street. They spent the Friday sightseeing in Dublin before taking a train the next morning to Killarney to visit the lakes, a popular spot for Australian soldiers on leave in Ireland. On the journey Chapman and his mate teamed up with two Australian nurses, who were members of the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and who were staying in Dublin at Ross's Hotel in Parkgate Street (now rebuilt as the Ashling Hotel).

After a weekend of sightseeing, horse riding and boating on the lakes the tourists caught the train back to Dublin on Easter Monday, but they only travelled as far as Limerick before the train was stopped, no doubt due to events then unfolding in Dublin. After a delay the train was diverted to the south but it was again delayed at Cork, where Chapman and his fellow travellers were forced to stay aboard the train overnight. The train left Cork the next afternoon at 2.30 but the journey to Dublin, usually three hours, took twice as long.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120109468.html_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

http://www.oorlogserfgoedalveringem.be/nl/20-april-1918-1_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

On this day in 1917, an ambitious Allied offensive against German troops near the Aisne River in central France, spearheaded by the French commander in chief, Robert Nivelle, ends in dismal failure.

Nivelle, who had replaced Joseph Joffre in December 1915 as head of all French forces, had tenaciously argued for a major spring offensive in spite of powerful opposition in the French government, at one point threatening to resign if the offensive did not go ahead. He was convinced that by implementing the tactics he had used to considerable success at Verdun during the French counter-attacks in the fall of 1916, on a greater scale, the Allies could achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front within 48 hours.

In preparation for the planned offensive at the Aisne River, the British army began its attacks on April 9 around the town of Arras, capital of the Artois region of France, with the limited objective of pulling German reserve troops away from the Aisne, where the French would launch the central thrust of the offensive. Of the nearly 1,000 heavy guns used in the attacks, 377 were aimed at a six-kilometer stretch of front facing Vimy Ridge, a high point overlooking the plains of Artois, France, to the east. The Canadian Corps was given the task of moving forward to capture the ridge itself, directed by photographic images taken by aerial reconnaissance crafts used to plan the attacks as well as to report progress during their execution. After overcoming 4,000 yards of German defenses, the Canadians captured Vimy Ridge on April 12—a national triumph for Canada and a successful outcome for the initial phase of the Nivelle Offensive, as the Germans were forced to double their strength in the Arras region and thus draw forces away from the area further south, where Nivelle was preparing to launch his attacks.

On April 16, Nivelle and the French began their assault along an 80-kilometer front stretching from Soissons to Reims along the Aisne River. Despite the evacuation of reserve troops to Arras, the German positions were deeply and strongly entrenched in the region, which they had occupied since September 1914. The Germans had ample warning of French intentions from their intelligence systems; this, combined with the depth of their positions, meant that the Allies were literally outgunned from the beginning of the battle. The overconfident Nivelle had ordered a rate of advance of up to two kilometers per hour, which proved exceedingly difficult with the steep grade of the land, horrible weather and the strength of enemy fire.

For this attack, known as the Second Battle of the Aisne, the French used tanks in great numbers for the first time; by the end of the first day, however, 57 of 132 tanks had been destroyed and 64 more had become bogged down in the mud. All in all, the French suffered 40,000 casualties on April 16 alone, a loss comparable to that suffered by the British on the first day of the Somme offensive of July 1, 1916. It was clear from the start that the attack had failed to achieve the decisive breakthrough Nivelle had planned: over the next three days, the French made only modest gains, advancing up to seven kilometers on the west of the front and taking 20,000 German prisoners. On the rest of the front, progress was significantly slower, and Nivelle was forced to call off the attacks on April 20.

The high casualty rate among French forces during the ill-fated Nivelle Offensive, combined with the continuing effects of exhausting battles at Verdun and the Somme, led to sharply increased discontent among the soldiers on the Western Front. Mutinies began in late April 1917, and by June had affected 68 divisions, or about 40,000 troops. The army's response to this was quick: on April 25, Nivelle was dismissed as commander in chief. He was replaced by the more cautious Philippe Petain, the hero of the Verdun resistance, on May 8. Petain immediately responded to the soldiers' complaints, knowing that mutinies must be quelled in order to have a hope of success on the battlefield. Where Nivelle had cut soldiers' leave in March 1917, releasing only 5 percent of the army at a time, Petain increased it, establishing a standard of 13 percent, or ten days' leave for each soldier every four months.

http://labourhistory.net/stockholm1917/documents/p1f.php_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Bob Dowdeswell (...) was seriously injured in a road accident whilst driving a lorry near Dover, Kent. He died on the 20th April 1917 at Shorncliffe military hospital in Kent, and was buried at St Mary's, Prestbury, Cheltenham.

Part of a collection relating to the service of Frank (7th Buffs) and Bob (Army Service Corps) Dowdeswell, of Shaw Green, Prestbury, nr Cheltenham.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakegoodman/3498384697/_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

My own dear Boy:- Well I am wondering where you are and what you are doing. I know now that it is only a matter of time till you start for France from what the papers state. It spoke of the Camp Logan Division being in long training and sure drilled & toughened for any place in the fighting lines. So that means you will be soon trid along the lines in which you have been receiving you various instructions and drillings. I am going to try and be brave and be as optimistic in the matter as I can. I know you want to go and that makes it easier to bear, both for you and me. We will trust that nothing shall come to you except for your good and mine. Well I felt that this April was going to have some new trials and I am not surprised ad what is coming to me. Guy is called will leave next Friday from Georgetown. He will go to Camp Dodge in Iowa. O what the Mothers hearts must bear and the wives & sweet hearts. Guy is just simply tickled never saw him better pleased over any thing. They found it out Thur. eve. that he was to go. Sr Rife saw it in the paper and spoke to papa about it. so that eve I went to Kings and called them up. So last evening they came and stayed all night & this Morning they went to Crawford for a few days visit. will come back here Tues. eve and stay all night then down home wed. and wed night a lot of their friends are coming in to have a little visit with Guy before he goes then they will come up here Thur. evening again and be here the last night. And I think I I will have Arthurs here that last eve. It seems my children are well thought of. They all hate to see Guy go. and may be you dont think we are sad to have him go. It seemed when he was around there was one we could lean on - and how in a freer condition to help us in case we needed some one. But now that prop is gone too

This is an awful bad day. so bad for them to start out it began raining last night a cold rain from the East. and it is now about eleven and hasn't ceased one bit yet. But seems to be getting a little lighter. I hope it warms up a little. We have our room stove in the closet so it is sit by the kitchen stove Well daddy sent for a rug and Japanese Matting (green) for the kitchen and an oil cloth rug 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 for under the stove in the room this winter. O how I am in hopes you will get to spend the winter at home this coming winter. From the way the papers state the Germans are surely getting the worst of it and one cant see how they can hold out much longer against such an army as the U.S. can gather up. And it does look like they will soon see that when they run up against the "Sammies" it is no set of school boys as they might have thought. Did I tell you that we were making our bedstead to look like a brass bed and I took all the pictures of yours that have the gilt frames and put a new coat on them & they look even better than when first framed. and took all the penants and brushed them hard with clothes brush and then hung them on the clothes line nearly all day in hot sun and wind and they look real nice. But I will not put up more than two or three, one on the north wall by your desk and one small one to the west, then one between the picture and commode. O I might put 4 up but hardly think I will. I will get moth balls and put the others away so they will be nice for you when you come home. Say! I put some of that binder under the picture moulding in your room, and with the ceiling with all new paper and the picture frames made new looking and every thing cleaned up curtains and all it looks so neat and nice, and if only the boy was here to use it. the carpet not being used much the last year looks much better than the one in our room. That old cow horn and rabbit ears & tail and the brown ribbon you had, I washed the ribbon and cleaned it all up again and it is back where it was. so you can just about know how your room looks. and the nice scarfs that Della made for dresser and commode help out too. Sr Rife and Cecil were up last night till bed time. it was the first for Cecil for a long long time. She was so glad to get to see the enlarged picture of yours they both think it just fine. Cecil certainly is getting so nice and ladified. is wearing nose glasses and does odd to her appearance. Well I thought sure old Trix would be dead by this morning as he acted yesterday like he could not put through the day. one time he straightened out and his head jerked, I thot sure he was dying but rallied from that. but he lay all day and could scarcely move. But this morning he was over in the box between cupboard and stair door. and later walked back to stove & then on out doors and under the porch. So he came back and I gave him milk and little ground beef. and he ate it all yesterday was not able to get only a little milk down. They say cats have nine lives and it sure looks it. Yesterday, before Guys came out here they went to the Red Cross room and they furnished him with two good prs wool sox, a pr long wristlets, a sort of helmet, long scarf, and a good sweater. Then he bought an army blanket I believe he said it cost 9 dols. he also bought a Gillett razor outfit, costing the same as yours. he was told to get it. Say! he was sure proud of his outfit. he wore his sweater down there this morning as it was so cold. got his hair cut short excepting on top Now if he only dont get the rheumatism he may get along fine. He is going to try to get into the Aviation work Shepard who had been at Camp Logan told him how to do, to get transfered into other parts of the work, so he is going to do his best. He has a camera and has taken a picture of the airplane he made. Shephered told him to take that and also get a let. of recomendation from the contractor he worked under in carpentering. and something else I forget, I havnt seen Maude for so long. I guess her brother has had to to the Army too. I guess from what I heard the R.R. co., are not going to grant "passes" except in severe sickness or death. So our fun is done. I dont know who will put the shingles on the shop now that Guy is going away. Della had sewing to do for herself last night, as she had such short notice of this trip so Guy went up and got your reading lamp and we hooked it to the sink room light and we did fine. Another hen is hatching has 13 so that does better. Now I hope you get this letter and the other one I started off wed. and also the roll of wallpaper yet before you go away when you write please mention the letters so I know. Some of the Texas Soldiers that have been passing thru here have dropped off a card here in town and those that find them put them in the Post office so their folks gets them. I dont know as that is against rules or not - if it is I wouldn't want you to do it but if not I wish you would. How nice if they would only let you stop off for a day or two. But "nixie" I guess. well may God bless you my dear Boy and care for you is my daily prayer.

[upside down and top of last page]

Your Loving Mother. who longs to fold you in her arms again.

[sideways at top of first page]

I am wondering if you are back from your long hike and how you stood it. if you started about the time you said you were going to you havent time to be back yet. If you find out for sure that you are going to be rushed across the waters you might just as well send your trunk home. I dont believe they will hold you at another camp but for a very short time with all the drilling youve been thru. They are rushing them over fast now. I did want to get you a better picture of myself and one of daddy sent before you left. Has stopped raining but cloudy & cold yet wind is blowing

http://www.jimgill.net/wwipages/to_pbh/m180420p.html_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

http://www.stahlgewitter.com/18_04_20.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

(...) Small groups of prisoners were sent off to work wherever they were needed. A relationship of trust began to build up between the market gardeners and the prisoners. There is a story of a market gardener in Badsey lending a prisoner a bicycle to ride over to a field at the other end of the village. One employer sent his small child to escort a prisoner to work. Other stories also reflect the developing trust, although it is difficult to know whether they specifically relate to Badsey. The German prisoners may have formed a choir and sung for the villagers. There is a tale of a German prisoner carving toys out of wood to make Christmas presents for the children of a farmer who had treated him well.

For some the relationship between prisoners and locals was seen as too cosy. A writer in the Evesham Journal for 20 April 1918 expressed concern that he had seen 'young girls waving their hands and making overtures to the prisoners'. A farmer who had given his prisoners cider was deplored. Among the official papers in the Worcestershire Record Office there is a stern enquiry about a farmer who allowed a prisoner to hold his gun. (...)

http://www.badsey.net/past/pows.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Born at Boone Cty, Kentucky on 28 April 1899, Howard enlisted into the US regular army (28th Infantry) at Columbus Barracks, Ohio in February 1917. Howard served in France with the 1st Division AEF from June 1917, and he was a veteran of Cantigny, Soissons and the Meuse-Argonne fighting. Whilst part of the US Army of Occupation in Germany, he contracted tuberculosis, dying of this in Coblenz on 20 April 1919. Howard's body was repatriated back to the USA and he now lies in East View Cemetery, Patriot, Indiana.

Though her sentence was commuted fourteen months into her five-year prison term, O'Hare's experiences at the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City forever changed her. Initially O'Hare was allowed to write only one five-page letter per week; by her release, she had been promoted within the prison system to "Class A," which allowed her to send three letters per week. O'Hare used these letters as an opportunity to communicate with family and friends, as well as to make indirect contact with her many well-wishers and fellow socialists, instructing Frank O'Hare to send thanks to those from whom she received letters and packages that week, often listing up to twenty individuals. Kate O'Hare also used her prison letters to comment on Socialist Party events and changes. Frank O'Hare published these letters in batches through the Frank P. O'Hare Bulletin, a newsletter sent out to keep the O'Hare case in the public eye while Kate O'Hare remained behind bars, and in 1919 published them as the book, Kate O'Hare's Prison Letters. Censored by the prison administration, these letters describe in largely sanitized language the debilitating conditions she encountered.

Jefferson City, Mo., April 20, 1919.

F. P. O'Hare
1011 Holland Bldg.,
St. Louis, Mo.

Dear Sweethearts:

I can only write one letter but papa will copy it and send it on. First of all, I am quite all right. I feel perfectly well, sleep like a baby and eat like a harvest hand. The quiet after the stress, strain and hard work of these trying times is really restful.

So far I seem to feel no sense of shock whatever. I entered quite as calmly as I have registered at hundreds of hotels and the clang of the cell door did not disturb me more than the slamming of my room door by a careless bell boy. I have either much more poise, courage and strength of character than I dreamed of possessing or I am psychologically stunned. I suppose that Dr. Zeuch or Dr. Barnes might say the latter.

At any rate I am having a most interesting time. Life is the "Great Adventure" and I am living one of its most interesting and illuminating experiences. I have learned much, so very much, in these strained days; lessons of pride and humility; lessons of laughter and sorrow; lessons of high comedy and bitter tragedy. I have learned that prison cells can teach greater and more useful lessons than college classrooms.

And don't think that I am gloomy and lonely and unloved here, for I certainly am not. Through all the tragedy and heart-ache there come sparkles of wit and flashes of humor, and we really find many things to laugh over.

I have received so many beautiful letters. You must let the comrades know that I will be glad to get letters from all of them, that there is no limit to what I can receive, but I can write only one letter a week and that of course must be to the family.

Have the publishers send me the new books; I can't get too much reading matter. There are 80 girls here, and there is not a book, magazine or particle of reading matter supplied to the women.

I have received my various packages and I am quite comfortable. I got the flowers and candy this morning and the message they brought was very sweet and welcome. I am only short a soft metal knife and fork now and I will be all fixed.

Food is a problem. The kitchen is three blocks from the women's dining hall, and everything is stone cold when served and is uneatable. But we may have everything that does not require cooking sent in from the outside. It will take some thought for me to work out a balanced ration.

Tell the women comrades that I will be very glad to have any sort of home-made jams, jellies and pickles; in fact, anything that is put up in small containers. Tell Mrs. Wagner to send me some of her nice cookies, and the Jewish comrades to send me a box of Matzos. I would like some of Mrs. K.'s tiny pickles and onions also. And, Frank, when you come to Jefferson City, arrange with a grocer to send me such vegetables and fruit as I can manage. And send me a little stand about six inches deep, and two feet wide, the height of a table, with three or four shelves to keep things on.

My cell is about eight feet square, with steel walls, the front is of bars; I have received the rug and table cover, the sheets and pillow cases and bed spread, and it looks quite comfortable. We scrub our cells thoroughly once a week. There is light and ventilation, and happily, no bad smells, for no cooking is permitted in the cells.

Our little world has its comedies, it vanities, its classes and its castes, just like the big world outside. The "federals" are for some reason the "upper class," and the "politicals" are the aristocracy. There are three real "politicals," Emma Goldman, a wonderful little girl of 18, and myself. There is another "espionage," but she is just a poor, simple old soul, about as dangerous to the government as an old cow.

It is certainly a great thing to have two women like the two "politicals" with me here. Emma is very fine and sweet, and intellectually companionable, while the little girl is a darling. We have really interesting times.

Next in rank are the women who have disposed of undesirable husbands, and at this point I want to expound for all of my male friends a bit of wisdom. If you chance to have one of those meek, patient, quiet, long-suffering wives, beware that you do not try them too far, or some morning you may wake up in paradise, or the other place. If you have chanced to get a temperamental lady, of shrewish tendencies, you may be uncomfortable, but you will be safe.

You might tell the Rev. Dr. Bitting that I understand him now. I now know what he feels when he comes into contact with the working class. I feel the same thing here. I want to come close to these women, I want to serve them, but I am conscious of the fact that they feel that I am one apart from them. Quite often I feel that I am reaching a human soul, uncovering a rich vein of underdog philosophy, and then some cynical soul says "Aw, cut it--she's a lady." And I am baffled and shut out and realize that "ladies" and "clergyman" are purely ornamental, and can have no relations to real life. But I feel that I am gaining ground and in time I will not be penalized for being a "lady." One thing in my favor is that I can work. I am certainly thankful for my manual dexterity. The work in the factory does not trouble me in the least. I understand that I have broken all records for beginners in making jumpers. I feel a little stiff and sore, but it is nothing serious. I feel sure that I will be able to make the "task" by next week, which is 55 jumpers each day.

I am wondering if you will be able to read this. Writing a long letter by hand is a task for me, and a greater one for those who must read it. I feel sure that by the time Governor Painter, the warden, has deciphered a letter or two of mine, he will be willing to let me have my little Corona typewriter for his own sake if not for mine.

Please make a copy of this letter for Grace and send one to Mr. Lovell also. You might send a copy to Mr. Wattles and thank him for his kindness and courtesy to me.

Let Mrs. Brown read it, and I want her to know how much I appreciated her very sweet letter.

This is Easter, and I think it means more to me than any other Easter in my whole life. I think that I have come just a little nearer the soul of the universe; that I can touch hands across the ages with all who have walked through Gethsemane and who have found peace for their own souls in service for others.

It seems strange, but it is true, that today it is not my own loved ones, not even my comrades, that I long to reach with an Easter message of love and cheer. My own have the memories of long years of love and they can afford to lend me for a time to these poor, despoiled, despairing creatures here. I want you, my children, and my husband, to feel that you have only loaned me for a time to those who need me far more bitterly than you do.

I want the comrades with whom I have worked for years with all my strength, to feel that they must not be bitter if I am taken away for a little while to be with the bitterly wronged victims of our social stupidity.

I am deeply grateful to be where I am today and to have found such a place of service. I know that my children are secure. 'Gene and Victor will be tenderly cared for at Chaminade; Kathleen will be happy with Cousins Mamie and Charles and Mrs. K. and the St. Louis comrades will take care of my big boys. And there are so many who need me here. The poor little "dope fiend" in the cell next to me needs me more than my own do. You have love and health and the beautiful world; she has only the hellish cry of her nerves for "dope," the black despair born of the neglect of those who should help her, and the gnawing hunger of a long under-nourished body. I can feed her and encourage her and pet her, and I think if Jesus were consulted on the matter, he would prefer that I should be here this Easter Day rather than in come [sic] magnificent church.

If I were outside today I might be speaking to a great crowd. Perhaps my empty place and silent voice will serve my comrades and my cause better than my presence.

So do not worry about me, and do not be sad. I am all right and I will come back to you a better wife, a more tender mother and a wiser and more efficient comrade.

The floor girl has just come to tell me that it is time to turn in my letter, so I must close now.

You must all be brave and cheerful and go on just as if I had not been taken from you. Tell the comrades to go on with my work and all will be well.

Love and kisses to my darlings, and greetings to the friends and comrades.

MAMMA.

http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/kro/doc008.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Le Cathal, a Chara,
I hope all goes well with you and that the new Executive is equal to its promise. I want to give you for their information my frank impressions after 10 days here. You will have had my previous note to the effect that passports will pretty surely be given - but probably not safe conducts, for the trip to Paris. In my view they OK? Insist on several others, including MacNeill and two people who speak French will like young Esmond[e], accompanying them as expert couriers and secretarial staff, with a view to setting up a regular office here.

The worries are
(1) That Ll G. will oppose the hearing of our envoys by the Peace Congress and that a lot of pressure will have to be used publicly and privately to create the dangerous precedent of actually hearing our envoys before the P[eace] C.[onference] instead of their merely depositing a memo - with Secretaries of the PC:
(2) that I believe the hearing will eventually be given, though very reluctantly, but with great effect;
(3) that I am sure this will not be before peace is signed, and I myself believe it will not be till Oct or Nov. when the League of Nations gets into working order at Geneva, though Sean T. is more optimistic on the ground that Wilson can't go home in May without having secured something definite for us;
(4) that De Valera should inaugurate a League of Nations No. 2, consisting of the oppressed and dissatisfied nations to meet in Paris at first. Now, if this prognostication is correct, we want tremendous propaganda in the meantime, particularly in France, which will be more receptive to anti-English stuff if and when Peace signed. France's friendly but ignorant. Seán T. has had a very hard wall to break through, he has certainly got the fact well known that Ireland is in Paris and is knocking at the door. And the French censor steps in to stopreal propaganda. On the other hand, English propaganda is alive and vicious (a good instance of England's fears) and we are not allowed publicity to contradict it. My view is that this will change after Peace is signed, and that France, then very angry and no longer so dependent on England, will become very receptive and I am spending a lot of time in putting into French my best propaganda stuff. But we shall want a proper style copy with this and plenty of money.
[remainder of letter unreadable]

Always yours,
George Gavan Duffy

http://www.difp.ie/docs/volume/1/1919/7.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

This image was scanned from a photograph in the Dalton Family Papers, held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. It is from a collection of photos and letters by William Dalton, who served in the A.I.F. during World War I.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/5408611161/_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

(...) On April 20, 1918 Stubby was wounded in the right foreleg and chest by shrapnel from a German grenade during the fighting at Seicheprey. He was treated at a field hospital, and following surgery was moved to a recovery area where he convalesced and also improved the morale of the nursing staff and other wounded troops. (...)

http://www.oorlogserfgoedalveringem.be/nl/20-april-1918_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

File of papers relating to the First World War service of Major General John Monash, 3rd Australian Division. This file, originally part of Book 18, covers 28 March 1918 to 20 April 1918 and includes correspondence regarding the defensive action at Morlancourt, statements supporting Sergeant Stanley Robert McDougall's recommendation for a Victoria Cross and reports on other minor operations carried out by the 3rd Division. The letters exchanged between Monash and Field Marshal Birdwood also discuss the probability of reuniting the ANZAC Corps. It also includes a letter from the Minister for Defence requesting items for the newly established War Museum.

Wel 171 scans... Get to it! https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG0000628_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

The next correspondence to his mother was a telegram on 23 April 1918 stating that he had been seriously injured on the 20 April and was dangerously ill. The sister in charge of the 22nd CCS (22nd Casualty Clearing Station) Miss A Wyllie wrote a note to his mother as well dated 21 April saying he had been seriously injured in the left thigh and back, and his condition is critical.

25 April 1918 Richard himself wrote to his mother “Just a few lines to inform you that a kind lady is going to write you a line or two. I find it very hard to write. Your loving son Dick.” This card was difficult to read as the writing was poor. He had been moved to ward A2 . 24 General Hospital. B.E.F. France Etaples where a Lady Mary Bradford wrote that “He was wounded April 20, a severe wound of the buttocks, the shrapnel is out. He is doing at present as well as can be expected, and receiving every care. His best love.”

On 5 May 1918 Richard’s mother had yet another letter from Ward 4 Military Hospital, Colchester. Essex, stating that the condition of Pte England who is a patient of the hospitals gives rise to anxiety, and it is considered desirable that she should visit him if possible. Enclosed was a half fare voucher to enable her to travel at half ordinary fare.

He moved around several hospitals in England having treatment, and was discharged from the RAMC no longer physically fit for war service 5 July 1919. When he was discharged his height was recorded as 5 ft 7 inches (about 168cm) so he had grown 7 cm whilst in the army, and served 3 years and 197 days with the colours.

His treatment continued for a few more years, we have a post card dated 1920 when he was still receiving treatment.

Recovery

Due to the severity of his war wounds Richard had numerous operations lasting until about 1922. Whilst an in-patient he was given occupational therapy and worked a tablecloth on even weave fabric.

Unfortunately the thread was not colourfast as today it would have been and some of the colours have run when washed. He did tell me he quite enjoyed working it and his mother was pleased to receive it.